Multiculturalism: A More Critical Look

I raised two children through high school and college, and I’ve found that a disturbing anti-American bias is apparent in their multicultural studies.

America’s history is presented as a series of racist, ethnocentric, and colonialist abuses. Perhaps a partial undercurrent of truth exists for some of these criticisms. However, every major civilization on earth has been guilty of the same charges at one time or another. To America’s credit, we evolved and are arguably the most tolerant nation on the planet.

Recently, a friend of mine who is a professor at a Maryland university confided that white males have a rocky trek at her school. It seems whites have now become the target of choice for endless attacks and derogatory comments by university intelligentsia. All of this appears to be a byproduct of multiculturalism run amuck.

Multiculturalism can be a good thing, especially when used to teach tolerance for individuals who are different than us. However, it is no different than medicine or chocolate … too much of it taken indiscriminately can make you sick. There is a fine line between tolerance and endorsement. What happens when we endorse cultures that do not share our beliefs relating to human rights, respect for law, and the pursuit of happiness for all people?

Ironically, multiculturalism embraces museumized versions of cultures that are incompatible with America’s Constitution. An example includes fundamentalist Islam, wherein there is no distinction between church and state. The Koran prescribes Islam; but it also prescribes a body politic, known as Sharia law, wherein women, Christians, Jews, and minorities are denied rights that are taken for granted in America. My point is this: before embracing any culture, it would be wise to know exactly what we are embracing in the name of multiculturalism.

How do we reconcile Dhimmitude, a form of apartheid, that commands treatment of Christians and Jews as second-class citizens, under condition they subjugate to Sharia law? Women are required to wear veils. Is oppressing women acceptable?

An editor of a liberal northeast newspaper was dismissive, stating, “we won’t accept the most extreme versions of Islamism. That won’t happen.” It is happening. Under the guise of multiculturalism, Sharia tribunal courts hostile to women’s rights have already gained a foothold in Canada’s Provinces. Should America embrace Sharia courts?

Illegal immigration is another area of concern. Multiculturalism overtly discourages today’s immigrants from assimilating. The ACLU and other pro-multiculturalism organizations appear to aid and abet illegal immigrants who have no interest in assimilating. Now, American college graduates living in places like Grand Island, Nebraska, or Greeley, Colorado have difficulty obtaining employment unless they speak Spanish.

A few years ago, in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Marsha Garst, Virginia commonwealth’s attorney in rural Rockingham County, described the crime and gang violence perpetrated by illegal aliens in her rural Virginia community. Garst urged lawmakers to address the illegal-alien gang problem “before our way of life is lost forever.” She went on to detail the involvement of gangs like the Salvadoran MS-13 and the Surenos 13, a gang comprised of citizens of Mexico, in drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, and robbery.

America is under de-facto attack from those who do not embrace our values, and would destroy America’s way of life if empowered.

Mahatma Ghandi once said, “Non cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good.” Has multiculturalism become the battle cry of the complacent and self loathing who refuse to recognize the current geopolitical and geo-cultural threats to America’s heritage? Should we endorse those who threaten our national security, break our laws, and show contempt for America’s constitution, culture, and way of life?

Clearly, multiculturalism has its virtues; but it also has limitations. A lack of unified values threatens the cohesion of our society. The secular nature of multiculturalism is perceived as hypocritical by many Americans. Why does multiculturalism embrace the value of other cultures while simultaneously denigrating the accomplishments and values of America’s great Judeo-Christian heritage? And, why do multiculturalists appear to embrace the value systems and agendas of various fringe special interest groups, while simultaneously seeking to expunge Judeo-Christian values from our culture?

Multiculturalism rarely focuses on the goodness and benevolence of America and rejects assimilation as a racist concept. Yet, multiculturalism ignores the fact that immigrants leave their birth nations and come to America for a reason. They can retain their rich ethnicity, while sharing America’s culture. They want to be Americans.

Perhaps a better solution is to strive for a single, unified American culture that is simply multi-ethnic.

Ultimately, indiscriminate multiculturalism may prove to be the Trojan horse that destroys a free America. Hostile cultures, if empowered, may dismantle the hard-won rights enjoyed by women and minorities; freedom of religion; freedom from religion; and freedom from social disorder, crime, and tyranny.

It is a fact that America’s great Christian-Judeo culture laid the bedrock for the most open and diverse society in the world. Ironically, multiculturalism taken to extremes may kill the proverbial Judeo-Christian goose that laid the golden egg.

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